Georgette Braun: We women voters have a lot to think about

Sunday

Jul 20, 2014 at 3:00 PM

Jan Klaas can’t remember another time in at least the past 10 to 15 years when so many local women have gathered to show support for a Republican candidate for governor.

“Even women who are not in business get it,” she told me Thursday, two days after 275 people — all but a handful, women — attended a luncheon at Rockford Country Club. It was where Bruce Rauner said job growth would be his top priority as Illinois’ governor.

“Their income is down; their job opportunities are down,” Klaas said, referring to women in the workplace. “If we don’t do something soon. ... Well, it’s motivating.”

Klaas of Cherry Valley is Republican state deputy committeewoman for the 16th Congressional District and has been involved in Republican Party politics in Winnebago County for 20 years. The “something” she was referring to is electing Rauner in November to the top job in the state.

Posters bearing the name Women for Rauner, referring to the statewide coalition Rauner announced July 1, greeted luncheon guests at the fundraiser. And Klaas made a plea for attendees to volunteer to help make sure Rauner supporters get to the polls.

Even before I heard Rauner and Evelyn Sanguinetti, whom Rauner chose as his running mate for lieutenant governor, mention the words “family” and “children” dozens of times at the luncheon, I thought I’d query women there and others elsewhere. I asked what they think about Rauner, Democratic incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn, jobs and the June 30 Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision that’s especially important to women. It allows some employers to opt out of covering certain contraceptives for employees if doing so would violate the employer’s religious beliefs.

Here’s some of what they said.

From those at the luncheon:

— “I’m so primed and ready for change in Illinois,” said Sally Truitt, owner of Truitt Travel in Rockford. “We want to stay here and have businesses here and want our families to stay here. The only way that will happen is with some radical change.”

— “60 percent of what comes in goes to taxes — payroll, state income, property. It’s suffocating,” said Gwen Brooks, owner of a State Farm insurance agency in Belvidere.

— “Bruce wants change, and I am happy that he has this force behind him that are women,” said Michelle Scandroli of Rockford, a community activist. “I think that is a different approach.”

— “I can only see a benefit for women, with more jobs for women and men,” said Susan Dillon of Machesney Park, an attorney, in support of Rauner.

From those I called:

— Pat Quinn is a champion of women and children, said Terry Cosgrove, president and CEO of Chicago-based Personal PAC, a political action committee dedicated to electing pro-choice candidates to state and local offices in Illinois.

A recent example: On July 6, Quinn signed a law that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot as an advisory referendum. It asks whether any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides prescription drug coverage should be required to include prescription birth control as part of that coverage.

On the other hand, he told me, Rauner “doesn’t support full access” regarding reproductive rights, even though he is pro-choice. Sanguinetti is pro-life. That especially worries Cosgrove because a quarter of individuals who have served as governor had at one time served their state as lieutenant governor, research by the National Lieutenant Governors Association shows.

— “Women are looking at things the way men are — the economy and taxes,” said Nancy Gdowski, a former precinct committeewoman for the Winnebago County Democratic Central Committee. “Most women are more worried about the economy than birth control.” Is she a Quinn supporter? “I am sitting on the fence. ... He’s paying down the bills but it would have been nicer to have been done sooner. Yet, I’m distrustful of Rauner.”

— “I would rather take my chances on someone I know,” said Dorothy “Dot” Turner, Democratic state committeewoman for the 17th Congressional District, referring to her support for Quinn. “Jobs need to be the No. 1 priority,” she said. Yet putting resources into job creation can come with spending cuts, she said, and if you listen to Republicans in their stump speeches, “it’s always deep cuts to the poor.”

Today, though, Klaas said, “access to contraception is the least of our worries. It’s available. The women I am associated with are much more concerned with the economy and jobs.”

We women voters sure have a lot to think about between now and November.